Random Sunday stuff…

Rubber match here and it’s going to be a warm one here. Let’s hope Chad is economical with his pitches, given the humidity. And fortunately, no lights are needed in a day game, as last night’s two-hour, 28-minute affair was hardly that.

Here’s hoping the Lake show can wrap it up tonight and be crowned champions. That would mean no game on Tuesday and everyone can take advantage of the free parking at Dodger Stadium in the homestand opener against Nomar’s A’s. And hopefully we could bring the team out for a celebration at the stadium.

Birthday wishes go out to Big Newk! He’s 83 today, and I don’t know another 83-year-old who can pull off class like he can. The hat, the suit, the aura. It’s pretty impressive.

Last chance for you Martinistas to take part in Under the Lights tomorrow night…Russ will be at the ballpark hosting the batting practice event with Jamie Hoffmann, Ron Cey, and Steve Garvey.

All of the regulars are in there today, with Joe T. saying that tomorrow’s day off is enough. Russell shifts over to DH and Ausmus will do the catching. Here’s the lineup:

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(Not So) SMOOTH
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Yeah we’ve still got Juan
Hits sev’ral pop-ups in the midday sun.
I hear you think you’re better than everyone.
And you got Joe fooled.
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Juanacita
Our four-four million dolla lease-a (ALTERNATIVE) Our Alabama whinin’ piece-a
Give me reason for teasin’
Your rut is my groove.
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[bridge]
And so you say the bench ain’t good enough
Joe hasta sit young guns to shut you up
I could shoot Ned dead for putting you in Blue
You’re not so smooth
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[chorus]
It looks like Frank’s money went down the drain
And when you’re in the line-up, I am hoping for rain
You play the game like you ain’t got nothin’ to prove
Give you the breaks let you play
Or else you’ll whine about it.
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I tell ya one thing
You’re kinda play ain’t xactly Hall of Fame
Its every day and every word I hear your name bummin’ me out
Every game I hear your name on the radio
All of your grounders bouncing so soft and slow
Wheels spinning round and round
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And so you say the bench ain’t good enough
Joe hasta sit young guns to shut you up
I could shoot Ned dead for putting you in Blue
Cuz’ you’re not so smooth
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It looks like Frank’s money went down the drain
And when you’re in the line-up, I’m hoping for rain
You play the game like you ain’t got nothin’ to prove
Give you the breaks let you play
Rather forget about you.
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It looks like Frank’s money went down the drain
And when you’re in the line-up, I am hoping for rain
You play the game like you ain’t got nothin’ to prove
Give you the breaks let you play
Rather forget about you.
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Like to forget about you…
Like to forget about you…
Like to forget about you…
[ to fade]
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enchanted – That was just a fabulous song!!!!!! ………………and I am still wondering why it was sooooo very important to give Matt and Andre days off, but JP can play every game? There is no guarantee at this point that Manny is going to comeback or (heaven forbid) Matt or Andre get hurt, that JP may be called upon later on in the season after Manny’s return. Shouldn’t he be taking an occasional day off just in case? It’s things like this that don’t make me trust what he says when it comes to players and playing time.

lbirken – your comments on the previous thread about Andruw were awesome. You should send it in letter form onto the LA Times. Really you should.

messagebear – I totally agree with you and your assessment about Andre and how he is treated in comparison to the other players. You are right, he will never be complacent in his position as an outfielder.

Putting Martin at DH is a good way to get him a little extra rest before an off day. I know Russell studies a lot of video for the pitchers; I hope he is also working to find out why his bat is so amemic this year.

On a side note – the Texas announcers have really done a good job representing our team. They have had nothing but nice things to say about our current team. Maybe Andruw should have taken a lesson from them and talk nicely about the team that is paying him. As I am typing this the jerk just hit another HR. Billz, drill him next time he is up please. I am assuming the Dodgers are taking the high road on this issue and aren’t going to sink to Andruw’s level, but the fans would love to see it.

Bills needs to get some B**** and deck Andruw the next time up. That’s baseball and that’s the way you play the game. If that was Koufax, Drysdale or Gibson, he wouldn’t dig in the next time to the plate.

How can anyone with a straight face think Juan Pierre knows how to play the game [Joe?] Swings at the first pitch when the guy can’t even find the strikezone. He does the same damn thing when he’s the last out of the inning and the pitcher’s been on deck and up to bat and could use a minute or two in the dugout to sit down and rest. BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Slappy has to always swing at the first or second pitch and make the last out.

Dear Uncle Joe. Dodger fans trust your invaluable judgment. Perhaps, in hindsight, playing the vets (Gonzo, Pierre and Andruw) at the expense of the kids (Ethier and Kemp) worked out in the long run. At least that’s the cover story. Even Loney had to wait his turn until Nomar got hurt…and Kershaw has been up and down between AAA and the majors. Joe, I get it now: give NOTHING to the kids…make them earn it. Genius. That’s why I’m sure you’ll agree that Ausmus may soon be your starter. I mean, why save him…for next year? Russell Martin has been the “anointed one” since Navarro got hurt and he has been cemented into the catcher’s spot ever since. Make him earn it. Make him want it. Make him churn and sweat and curse on the bench like Andre and Matt had to do. Sit Martin for a goodly long while. Ausmus isn’t exactly chump change, you know…………..?!?!?!?!?!

This message is not meant to personally offend anyone, it’s just getting tiring reading the ITD comments lately…

Sometimes reading the comments lately, you’d think that the Dodgers were 22-41. Certain players can’t win with the crowd whether they’re riding pine or helping the team excel in 1st during the suspension, when the same ESPN staffers who unanimously picked us to beat the Phillies in the NLCS had counted us down and out. Granted, said ballplayer isn’t doing so hot now, falling back to earth, but he was hot when we needed him to be, instead of sulking and slapping like everyone thought he would.

Every lineup is complained about, and yet, we’ve managed to win over 65% of those games, and the rest of the MAJOR Leagues (not just the NL) have yet to catch up.

The pitching is worse than us Dodger fans are used to, but the rest of the League’s pitching is WORSE. Granted, I have no illusions of having a top-notch October rotation at this point, unless changes are made, but EVERYONE ELSE IS WORSE.

Sometimes, it’s reminiscent of the way Yankees fans think… yet if they were illusions of having a top-notch October rotation at this point, unless changes are made, but EVERYONE ELSE IS WORSE.

Sometimes, it’s reminiscent of the way Yankees fans think… yet if they were 41-22, I doubt they’d be sulking with every lineup.

We have yet to see a team go 162-0. We’ll likely NEVER see that. Yet it feels sometimes that the comments hold the team to this unreachable standard. I’m happy with where we at. We COULD be better, but you know what? Aside from Houston, who haven’t we held our own against?

It’s not that I don’t want the team to win as much as other fans do… I definitely do. But WE ARE WINNING.

You know Scheirholz from the gnats had a inside-the-park homerun today at AT&T Park. Hit a ball in triples alley, Cust tried to play it off the wall, and the ball got stuck so he had to go after it, hence the inside-the-park home run.

Geez why did I have to bench Weaver and he pitches a cg/sho but I had to this league has ER’s and bb as a stats and my opponent was barely winning the ER’s and bb were tied and he had 2 SP’s starting and all of his RP’s starting to. I just wish I had him doing that in his first start this week but I did start him and he gave 2 runs.

Just back from the game, the ranger fans didnt have a lot to cheer about today! Chad was great and we finally got some clutch hits. I did have to sit through another fatty jones homer though, but we came out on top in the end. Back to new mexico tonite and i dunno when i’ll get to see another game in person, but i’m 4-3 so far this season. GO DODGERS!!

Can’t exactly say I’m a Lakers fan…but I’m glad it’s over. Maybe now L.A. can return from it’s never-ending obsession with that team. Speaking of baseball, if the season ended today, guess who the NL Wild Card would be…the beloved Gnats, that’s who. Nice to hear Russell Martin is addressing his crummy year and trying to get out from under. He might start by swinging the bat without the intent of hitting to the moon. I would offer the age-old maxim: let the game come to you.

Congrats to the Lakers. I see the throng of thugs and hooligans is in the streets again. I don’t get it but I guess some people need an excuse to destroy property.

As I was watching the post game celebrations in Orlando I got to thinking about Manny and the Dodgers. Manny made a comment the other day trying to downplay his situation by saying he did not murder or rape anybody. Hardly the type of thing I would like to hear from him but I suppose he was just trying to put things into his perspective. What is the Laker connection? Laker fans certainly forgave Kobe for his little indiscretion in Denver a few years ago where he may have commited rape. So I suppose there is some precedence for forgivness of a local sports star who disappoints the fans but comes out of it as if nothing happened. I suppose if Manny helps the Dodgers win the World Series all will be not only forgiven but pretty much forgotten.

lbirkin, totally agree. If this town can move on for Kobe–who at the very least was guilty of adultery, if not rape–then L.A. can forgive Manny his chemical indiscretions. But it’s the old story, repeated a billion times. Athletes are NOT role models (very likely they’re the antithesis), and we all have enough weeds in our own gardens to quit worrying about or judging others.

bluesplash – glad you had fun at the game, and from the looks and sounds of it, it sounds like Dodger fans were well represented there. I also thought I heard quite a bit of booing when Andruw came up to bat5. Was that so, or was that me just hoping that’s what was happening?

Andre gets to face his roommate from AA when he was with the A’s.
……………………………………………….
What’s more, Braden will be facing ex-A’s outfielder Andre Ethier, his former Double-A teammate and roommate on the road.

“It will be fun,” Braden said.
………………………………………………
Andre does very well against his ex-A’s teammates. Hit’s homeruns off of both Haren and Blanton now. Let’s hope he has the same good fortune against this Braden.

Good Morning ITD, Dodger Faithful
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Great Win Last Night Boy’s!!!!!
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In honor of the two game win streak, I propose we have a little fun on the off day and have a music day. It can be a song about baseball or just a good beat and rythym song to get the bats going or a song dedicated towards a certain player or anything along those lines. It may make the day go by a little easier and you can show your support as well.
I will start it off with……
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THE BOY’S ARE BACK IN TOWN ~ THIN LIZZY
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The A’s come to town after being swept by our rivals. We need to take advantage of this series as well.
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GO DODGERS!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Enjoy your Monday everyone🙂

Good to see that we took the series, although I didn’t get to see either Saturday’s or Sunday’s game. All I’ve seen are ESPN’s “highlights”, which amounted to Kemp and Blake’s HRs. And they still claim no east coast bias……

Good morning ITD!
A happy belated birthday to Don Newcombe! I had the pleasure and honor to hear him speak a few times. He is such a great speaker. I love the plaque that was dedicated to Campy and Newk at historic Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH. I went to visit the park last Wednesday when I was in N.H. Unlike other places, Nashua welcomed them to play there in 1946/
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North, Good post. Agree with you.
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Looking forward to seeing the boys back in town! and I am also looking forward to June 27th.
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Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com/

Well Gooooood Morning ITD’rs
ENCHANTED loved your song (Not so) Smooth….LOL!
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Well Congrats go to the Lakers they brought the ring, now Dodgers you gotta bring the ring aswell…GOOOOO DODGERS! I do want to Congratulate Phil Jackson for his 10th win…making him a GREAT COACH!
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Sorry I missed the “Under The Lights” with Martin…I know I am a Martinista…but a poor one….GO MARTIN!
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I can’t wait for the A’s match up and hopefully Nomar gets to play….I hope Nomar those well, but I hope the A’s looses. Good luck NOMAR…I still lova ya!

Good Morning ITD readers and writers!!!!!!! I don’t think there is anybody on here that thinks we are going to win all the games, and once again, we wouldn’t be on ITD if we didn’t bleed Dodger Blue. I think what makes this group unique are the personalities. The things that have been said on here lately isn’t anything our own media hasn’t mentioned already………………..lack of offense (Russell in particular), Andruw being a total **ck, how wonderful JP is playing (Well, we were pretty positive about him until he started tanking),and the neverending Manny saga.

I think of ITD as reading my favorite authors. I read their books because of the personalities they bring to their writing, and all the authors I enjoy reading have different personalities. Some make me smile and laugh, some make me mad, some make me see things in a different perspective, some scare me, and some make me emotional. However, even though each of them has those different personalities, I still continue to read them.

I think of this ITD board just like that. It’s the personalities that are intriguing. Some writers make me smile and laugh (hysterically at times), some make me mad, some make me see things in a different perspective, some scare me, some make me emotional and some have the capabilities of doing all of that in one post. I think we have a great balance here, and I want to keep reading our ITD posters as they see fit to express themselves, and I don’t want them to change IMO. In my job, I am in a little kids world, where the word “shut up” is equivalent to the word “**it”, and I really enjoy the fun “adult” humor, seriousness, or what have you. It’s what attracted me to this blog in the first place. IMHO of course :))))

On the heels of Nelly’s eloquent post, sorry to burst everyone’s kool-aid bubble, but even though this team has a rosy record, it’s a long ways from playing good baseball these last three weeks. The pitching’s been doing yeoman’s work, but I got to call ‘em as I see ‘em with regards to specific performances.

Item 1. Juan Pierre
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Pierre exceeded all expectations any of us could’ve had for the month of May, and though no one could possibly expect him to keep that pace up, he’s falling to earth like a stone. Last 15 games:
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14 for 63 (.222)
4 walks (which yesterday he doubled his output for the previous 14 games) .276 OBP
1 Double (.238 slugging pct.)
7 runs scored
1 RBI
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When did the team start to falter scoring runs? About 15 games ago. Who leads off? Is it all JPs fault? – No. But he’s no longer pulling his weight. .276/.238/.222 doesn’t cut it at the lead-off position, and those numbers don’t cut it at all for a left fielder with no power. JP my friends has turned back into a slappy pumpkin.

Item 2. Russell Martin
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There’s not much that needs to be said here. It’s June 15th and he has 0 Hrs and fewer RBI than JP despite batting in the middle of the line up. Honestly, he needs to be back in the minors figuring out how to make himself a major leaguer again because right now, I’d just as soon have Ellis catching and hitting because he couldn’t possibly do much worse. Have Russ go to a sports psychologist, have him try and find his stroke in Albuquerque, have him click his heels three times, whatever, but right now the only thing he’s contributing to is making the offense that much more anemic.

Item 3. The Young Guns in General
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Other than possibly Kemp, messers. Martin, Loney, Ethier and Kemp don’t appear to be progressing. They’ve all had 2-3 years in the bigs, a hitting “guru” in Mattingly for a batting instructor, and of course Joe “The Magician” Torre as a manager. Martin gets a failing grade period. Loney’s an enigma who should be batting north of .300 with at least SOME power. Each year his power numbers have declined. Fortunately for him he still manages to drive in runs, but I can’t say in any way he’s progressed from a year ago. Ethier is streaky, and I’m sure his toe gave/gives him more trouble than he lets on, but he isn’t anywhere near his norms either. Regressing?, I’d say no, but he’s not performing to his normal standards.

I appreciate that the team is winning, but I think I’m being fair in my assessments.

…………and enchanted, your post right there is exactly what I am talking about. I understand you are not everybody’s cup of tea, but there are a whole lot of people who love that cup of tea. So, keep posting it up!!!!!! …………and I do agree with what you are saying about ALL the players you have mentioned.

I agree with you too, Enchanted. For goodness sake, we are only 6 games up on the lousy Giants! With our so-called power lineup from 1 – 8 we should be out of reach by now! I would much rather be up by 6 than down by 6 or 7 but I want more from our team. I’ve been bleeding Dodger Blue all of my life and always will. But, sentiment and liking certain players doesn’t necessarily make them a winning team.
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I resent people thinking I (we) don’t support our team and just because an opinion is expressed that some may not agree with, doesn’t mean I (we) should be bashed for it. I want more than anything for the Dodger to go to and win the World Series. But, IMHO, it won’t happen with the team we have on the field right now.

True,
Is not knocking you for having a little fun, is also expressing our opinions on how we feel. I am enjoying the ride of having a good record. I know there are holes in our team that I hope get addressed. I know losing streaks are going to come so I fully enjoy the wins. I like reading all of you here and that is why I keep coming back. I miss it when I don’t have time to read you all. You make me laugh, smile, I agree sometimes and sometimes I don’t but . Sometimes it gets too negative but that is OK, I rather have negativitiy from Dodger fans than non-Dodger fans because I know that the negativity comes from the same passion I feel for the team.

I also can assure everyone that I don’t root against JP and Marty either. I WANT them to do well. Do I expect them to – no.

Slappy did exactly what I expected him to do with men on base yesterday – roll out to the right side. The only time JP doesn’t roll out to first or second is when he has the opportunity to move a man over. That’s when he pops to left.

Marty did as I expected also with the exception of him getting a hit. That I admit surprised me.

This team could be and should be better than its shown the last three weeks. All they’re doing right now is proving that they really do miss Manroid. And that’s sad, because they’re better than that… or at least they should be.

NELLY & ENCHANTED – great posts!
And even if Martin is one of my fave, ENCHANTED you are right…no HR….what is up with that! Is he like the only Dodger (not counting Pitchers) that has not had a homerun?
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NELLY was someone complaining about ITD? Let me just add that ITD is like a tv show. If you start watching a show half way in the season, you might not understand the characters or what’s going on. But after several times of viewing the show or visiting this blog, you will understand that this blog is full of drama, serious conversations, songs, comedy and many more. We are a bunch of people with different personalities but with the same love for the Dodgers. It is never boring here and like many shows, it is addicting. LOL!
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Oh yeah I forgot to congratulate BROXTON for his new bundle of joy.
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Rose….GOOOOO DODGERS!

Well I don’t expect a HR from JP. I was surprise when Furcal got one, but Martin….he was up there in runs. If JP gets one and Martin doesn’t then it is grounds for divorce, I will take the MsRussy out of my name and stick to MsEthier only…LOL…I hope MARTIN gets better and gets out of that no HR slump.

Billz -20 wins – over.
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And let me add congratulating Jonathan Broxton and his wife on their new baby also. Thanks Rose for reminding me. And now that I think about it, Jonathan got to be approaching a birthday. I’ll never forget the day I went to BP and I yelled happy birthday to him. D.Lowe asked me to sing for him. Jonathan was telling me something but with his soft voice I could not hear him. He comes over to tell me that it was not his birthday. I did not notice I was a week early. Anyway, his birthday IS tomorrow. He will be 25! I still remember when Billz and Broxton had that combined no-hitter in Jacksonville.

I think our winning record is great. I can only imagine what our conversations would be like if we were only a .500 club, or even if we had not shown as well as we have since Manny left. Looking back on what made up our young guys core the leat year or two, I suppose our expectations may have been too high and even somewhat unrealistic, considering that many young players never achieve their full potential, take longer than expected to get there, or simply have to overcome some ups and downs before they get to the peak of their careers. Probably too early to write off any of them, yet that’s why we need the pipeline full with even younger prospects coming through the minors. I daily keep my eye on the box scores from our minor league teams and particularly watch some of the guys that could bring some power, which has pretty much been lacking since Green and Beltre departed.

We’re now about two weeks away from Manny’s reappearance, and you would expect that this will give a further lift to our ballclub. Most of you know what my opinions have been concerning Manny, but as long as we’ve got him, I too am looking ahead to his comeback. My problem is knowing how to deal with the general perception of baseball fans around the league, not necessarily Dodger fans. Nelly can probably relate to this, being in a family with some Giant fans who no doubt dealt with the Bonds controversy. Is Manny’s situation any different? I know my disappointment with LoDuca and Gagne when the news came out and tainted their accomplishments in my mind. We don’t know how many other former and current players have used the stuff that Manny got caught with, but will his presence taint our team accomplishments in the eyes of the general fan? That, of course, is the shame of baseball in this era, and I’m not going to play the moralist. I hope Manny does well for us, and I hope even more that we continue to do great work as a team apart from Manny. Always great to be with all of you guys and girls on ITD.

Talking abou Gagne, when I went to Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH last week, I noticed that the Quebec Capitals have signed Eric Gagne. The American Defenders who play at Holman are scheduled to play the Capitals at the end of the month. Both teams play in the Independent Can-Am League.

I find Ken Gurnick interesting at times, but his current take on the Dodgers as concerns JP is totally in contrast to what you’ll see here on ITD. If it comes down to trading an outfielder for a starting pitcher, he mentions Kemp and Ethier as possibilities, but apparently feels that the Dodgers would never do that with Pierre – too valuable/ irreplaceable? By the same token he lists JP as one of the best acquisitions by Ned. Hmm, and I wanted him fired for that.http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090615&content_id=5341468&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!?!?!? Now, that is just LMAO funny if he thinks JP as irreplaceable compared to Matt and Andre. It’s more like UNTRADEABLE!!!!!. If he is so damn irreplaceable than why couldn’t he get traded when he WANTED to be traded. Granted, he was valueable for the month of May, but what about from now until…………………2011……………………..remember two more years of this same topic and the same old crap. Geez!!!!

So i’m not happy about having to cheer for the angels tonite but the giants need to start losing again! and it’s funny that espn is all giddy that the rockies have won 11 in a row but they fail to mention they are still 10.5 back. GO DODGERS!!

bluesplash – I am in quite the predicament. I am going to the Angels/Gnats game tomorrow. What am I to do? I won’t wear Orange and Black, I don’t want to wear red, and I can’t wear green or yellow because the Dodgers are playing the A’s. I have to wear something Dodger Blue because they are playing. So, I am thinking mostly white, and then at the appropriate time, either we are winning or the gnats are losing, I will pull out my Dodger Windbreaker. I am sure I will be given up before then because I am sure my family will out me rather quickly when I am cheering for the Dodgers as I see the score on the scoreboard.

The natives sure do get restless on off days. However, I think the fact that some on ITD have questioned Russell Martin’s contributions to this season’s team is proof there is a lot of objectivity on ITD. This discussion of Martin goes way beyond just complaining. Fans expect him to get better, not worse and hopefully this is not a trend but just some unexplained situation that will turn around soon. We all took to Blake DeWitt last season when he started out strong but I don’t hear too many people clamoring for him now.

Do Dodger fans have high expectations? Of course we do and why not? The organization has a history of success that has been painfully absent for 20 years. Of course we know the Dodgers can’t win every game but we certainly expect the players to go out every day and try to win and we are going to be disappointed when the team loses. That is why we are fans. While we want the players to care most of us realize they have to pace themselves for a long seasn and not get too down or too high during the season. Again, that is why we are fans. We can do that. Tommy Lasorda once said a team will win a third of its games no matter what and will loose a third no matter what. Do you think he shrugged off any of those losses? I am sure he wanted his players to approach every game as a potential win no matter how many in a row they had won or lost. So I will continue to be disappointed at every failed at bat, bad or unlucky play, home run by the oppostion and every loss. The challenge is to let those things go and move on to the next day or the next game because in the end whether the Dodgers win or lose (or the Bruins or any of your favortite teams) life still goes on. But we can still have some fun talking about it.

I was bored and did some research on finding the first person who threw a no hitter and it was some guy in 1876 by the name of George Bradley so I check out his career stats. His stats are so funny and you’ve gotta love that dead ball era. I wonder what the day look like back in those days? I just love the 9 k’s in 535.2 innings and than his next season he had 103 k’s in 573 innings. Is amazing how a guy can go 13-40 and have a 2.85 ERA.

My intent wasn’t to “ruin” anyone’s “fun”, but there’s not a lot of fun visible these days. My post was mainly the reflection of someone who, after seeing the Dodgers up 6-3 in the 8th on the Rangers, the best of the AL West, came online to have some “fun”, and saw instead a sea of negativity that sapped any fun I was feeling after that point. Obviously, regardless of how we feel about the lineups, how Russell’s doing, how Pierre’s doing, etc., the team is doing good.

I’ve been coming here for over 3 years, just basing my “experience” as a point of reference. ITD, from Josh’s intent, has never been about being “Positive”, but it’s about “fan feedback”. I was just thinking that in the light of how the team’s doing, the feedback would be somewhat positive, but it’s not. Everyone’s riding Russ like we’re in last place, not that I don’t think he should be taken to task, but there’s a difference between stating a fact and overdoing it.

And I don’t pretend for a moment that we weren’t leading the league in July of ’07, and what happened soon after.

But we’re off to a historically great start, and everyone’s worried about how Russell’s doing? Obviously, we don’t need Russell to be doing great to be where we are now. We don’t need Juan to be running on all cylinders. The TEAM, as a WHOLE, is falling into place.

Subpar baseball when looking at individual games in segments, sure, I can see that, but look at the big picture (our series records, from now going back to the beginning of the season):

That’s video game-esque! As a matter of fact, I doubt it’d be an easy task to get this kind of record on a normal difficulty on a video game, let alone Pro. Sure, the Giants are cause for worry, but they’re 7 games back right now, and even though that might not seem like much, it’s the biggest gap in the Majors between a 1st place and 2nd place team.

Russell Martin and Juan Pierre’s performances can’t cost us anything. ONLY DODGER LOSSES CAN. Sure, they can contribute to losses, but they haven’t been contributing enough to help that cause. And think what you want of Joe Torre, but his results are undeniable. Since the 1990’s, he’s always given his team the chance to do great in October. He takes the heat off the players when the media hounds come calling. There are few managers I would rather have leading our team right now.

The rest is neither here nor there, numbers can say whatever you want them to say, but win-loss record is fact. And forgive me if I riled anyone, but after not having the most positive of weeks, and I’m not gonna go delving into aspects of my personal life, but I would think going into the official site of the Major League Leading Dodgers with a 3-run lead over Fatty Fatty 2 by 4, Can’t Fit Through The Garage Door Jones and the Rangers would be cause for positivity, but it might be easier to find a 2009 home run by Russell Martin than to find positivity in the comment section of ITD these days. Even now with a 42-22 record.

I don’t think we should be planning any parades anytime soon, but seeing as how October is not coming any faster, I’m going to enjoy this. I’m not going to let a couple of whiffs ruin my outlook on the big picture. Monet’s paintings look like crap up close, but one of his little pieces of canvas costs more than I will see in a lifetime, and his name is so well-known as a great artist that I doubt many readers will have to Wikipedia his name to find this out.

People who know me in real life know that I’m far from a “positive” or “cheery” person, hell, I wore black for my teenage years. I’m a very negative person, but the Dodgers to me counter that. It’s one of the few things in my life that I can truly look positively at, even if we’re under .500, if it’s June, there’s plenty of time to right the ship. It’s just disheartening to see people kicking the team when we’re doing so well, the rest of the league is going to do a good job of that when 99 comes back, you know. I’m not asking people to “change” themselves, I don’t want that, especially for my sake. But like I said earlier, It’s tough to want to read a site where every comment is from the deep end.

I totallly see your point of view North and I saw no bashing in your prior post and on this one and neither did I bash anyone. It is harder to take a stand on something when you are in the minority. I appreciate and admire that in you!
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A belated congratulations on your graduation!
Emma
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time for me to get ready to take the train home

northstate – you know I love reading what you have to say, and couldn’t be happier where the team is right now in the standings…………….especially since I live with two gnat fans and a half and happen to be going to AT&T Park tomorrow, in which I really don’t want either team to win, but since the Angels can’t hurt us right now, they seem like the wiser choice. All I know is the gnats need to be taken down a notch or two. Listening to their radio hosts on the radio you would think they are the ones in first place. I just happen to like enchanted being enchanted and messagebear being messagebear and whoever being whoever they want to be, and for whatever reason, it doesn’t bother me at all.

Northstate, don’t sweat it. I think there usually is a balance on this blog that ranges from people who are never satisfied to those who see a positive in almost anything. We all see things differently and that should make for good conversation. I do agree that sometimes we over analyze things. There are no style points in baseball. The ball sometimes takes a crazy bounce and we all have to live with what happens. I agree, lets enjoy the ride.

Nelly, since the Dodgers are not even playing today and there is nothing worth watching on TV I might at least watch part of the Angel game tonight. I usually don’t watch their games much even when the Dodgers are not playing. I do not root against the Angels (except when they play the Dodgers) as I have a lot of respect for Soscia but for some reason I have never been able to stay interested in the Angels. Of course, their idiot owner changing the name of the franchise certainly did not help matters much but since they are playing the Giants, this is a no brainer as far as who I want to win.

I’ve only been on the blog for about a year and a half but I find it very entertaining and informative. During the time I’ve been here, the humor has been the same and nobody complained about it until now. I think everyone has the same goal for the Dodgers……..to win! So what if along the way, we have some fun? If it weren’t for Enchanted, Jhall, Dodgereric, NellyJune, Messagebear and others, we’d be just another boring blog!

lbirken – I really, really like Mike Scioscia. He was my favorite player when he was playing. However, I like you, can’t stay interested in the Angels as a team. We do have hometown boy, Fuentes, who is their closer, so I am hoping to see him pitch because that will mean the gnats are losing, or maybe we won’t need to see him at all because they will have squashed the gnats by then.

Nelly, I am sorry the Dodgers let Scoscia get away from the organization. Correct me if I am wrong but was this not another example of the ineptitude of the Fox era? As I recall things the Angels wanted someone who would work cheap and a lot of people felt Mike made a mistake taking the Angels job since that organization had a history of hiring and firing managers on a regular basis. I think it is safe to say things have worked out well for both Mike and the Angels and like you I am happy for him.

This blog got me thinking about Scioscia…and how there’s never really been a good explanation why he left the Dodgers organization. Only Mike knows.

“A sturdy catcher for Lasorda in the 1980s and ’90s, Scioscia was presumed to be on the way to a job filling in the Dodgers lineup card in his organizational afterlife. After a couple of seasons as roving instructor, he was managing the Dodgers’ Triple A team in Albuquerque, as groomed as you could be.

Scioscia says now that he never expected to take over the Dodgers’ job. ‘There was no line of succession, if that’s what you mean,’ he says. And he holds no bitterness about being held at bay until the Angels’ offer came, the Dodgers picking first Bill Russell, then Glenn Hoffman and Davey Johnson over him.”

Russell I was OK with…but Hoffman and Johnson???? A little shred I once read intimated that Scioscia may have been disillusioned with all the PHDs in the Dodgers’ AAA clubhouse baxck in the late 90s (Lo Duca’s tenure coincided with Scioscia’s back then…and I’m sure Lo Duca wasn’t the only “enhancer”). But as I say, only Mike Scioscia knows why he’s an Angel and not a Dodger.

Looks like Mitch Jones may get a shot at the big club. Good luck to you Mitch.
Hey nelly
We need to beat up on the A’s. I’m going camping for 4 days and will be in the woods with no tv reception so we need some wins.

Anyone realize we optioned DeWitt out on Sunday? They also optioned Hoffmann today and brought up Ellis.

Speculation is with the extra roster spot open they might bring in Mitch Jones. Who then gets lopped off the 40-man? Also, does that mean that Jones is the sole back-up OF? or is he strictly being brought in to be a DH while we’re playing the AL? As long as we’re not taking someone off the 40-man of consequence, its worth the gamble. I’m sure though that Mitch gets the axe when Manny returns.

Now that I think about it, now’s as good a time as any to move someone off the 40-man. They’re going to have to do it anyway in 3 weeks when Manny comes back. Mitch will be that sacraficial lamb now. In the meantime, maybe he DHs a handful of games and gets to be in the show.

Hello gang!! Hope you are all well and happy!!! I was very happy withy the Dodgers taking 2 of 3 and the series against the Rangers!!! May not have been pretty (Phew and Marty mainly) in some peoples opinion, but I’ll take it!!! I’m also just loving the G’nats getting shelled by the Angels tonight!! Especially Zito!!! Talk about bad contracts, Geez!!! I still consider Phew’s contract bad and ill advised but that Zito deal is abysmal. Maybe it just makes me feel better that the G’nats got soaked worse than we did. But then I remember the Schidt and Cow deals. I’d still get rid of Ned!!!

Lot’s of good comments and opinions out there today. Great song Beav!! L’edMFTO!!!!
I guess this board is just a microcosm of human nature.
Suppose you go to a beautiful dinner party and everything is perfect, except, the hostess cuts a f*rt while having dessert. What do you think people will dwell on? LOL!!! Still a great party and a winning dinner, but the first thing you think of and talk about is the one goof!!!!

LOL, jhall! you are too funny! Overall, I’m happy with the Dodger’s performance as a team, but they definitely need to kick it up a notch on offense. Pierre did do a great job in May, but I think he was playing above his normal ability and now he’s coming back down to earth. I have nothing against him personally, seems like a very nice guy, but I just think Andre and Matt are better. I think Russ will come around in time. I would like to see Andre’s average higher right now, but I think when all is said and done his #s will be up there where they should be. I agree with Enchanted that his toe was really bothering him for a bit there, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering him anymore. Nice article about him by Sarah today. I think Steve Lyon’s has said it best. Andre just needs to get his head out of the way. I think he will get it all worked out fine.

I didn’t see the game, but I hope Tory Hunter is ok. Nelly, should be interesting to see how Andre does against his
ex-roomie tomorrow night. By the way if anyone is in the mood for a good comedy, saw The Hangover this weekend and it was freaking hilarious.

Funny, but, even in high level board meetings, they acknowledge the good things but quickly shift the focus to what is not going so well and how to make it better. If you don’t address the problems, how in the heck are you going to recognize them, solve them, and get better. Just the way it works!!!

jhall – even in our staff meetings……………5 minutes is devoted to affirmations……….things that are going well. The rest is what can we do to improve or the problems we are having, and we are the best school in our district.

Beav, your certainly welcome. It’s just that problem with Dodger security and Phew’s mama waiting for you to arrive. Myself included!!! Big burly guys on Ned’s payroll and a ********** cajun mom scare the heck out of me!!!!!!!!!!

jhall – it doesn’t matter whether you are talking about a big time corporate office, a school staff or a major league baseball club…………………..there are always going to be those “characters” who take things to seriously, “characters” who make light of everything, “characters” who want to make people laugh, “characters” who are sugary sweet who think everything is perfect the way it is, and all the “characters” in between. It’s what makes an office an office, a staff a staff and a ball club a ball club. If we were all the same, it would be pretty boring and uneventful and nobody would be around to talk about farting and baseball at the same time.

You start out all nice and new, then people take bites out of you and you get ingested and lose your identity. Pretty soon your running a maze – back, forth, around, not really knowing where your headed. Next thing you know you’ve got a Schmitdy outlook, and just when you finally think your headed in the right direction, pfffffttttt, you’re history.

Yes, they do Wally because there are some brilliant minds on those short yellow buses. They just have difficulty expessing it sometimes. However, in Beav’s case, he has no difficulties expressing himself.

LOL Nelly!!! That’s ’cause Beav’s got ka-hoon-ahs!!!
On that note I will bid you all a pleasant evening and night as I take a short yellow bus ride to tomorrow!!!
Excelsior True Blue Believers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Night and God Bless jhall. Always a pleasure seeing you around these parts. I will tell your father you are home and safe. I am assuming he is working on his NASCAR fantasy league letters and stuff or maybe he just turned in early tonight.

Since I will be there tomorrow………………….I need Tori knocking some balls into the bay tomorrow night. However, the Angels have a pitcher coming up from the minors pitching tomorrow, but the gnats have Sanchez, which has about 2-3 good innings in him. So, it might be a high scoring game tomorrow once again, hopefully with the Angels coming out on top, and a Dodger win would be just sweeeeet. It will make for a nice ride home………….for me anyway :))))))))

Good Morning ITD, Dodger Faithful
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Happy Birthday Jonathan Broxton🙂
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It is good to see all the lively chatter on the blog…..It is all good…. North I hope your weeks ahead get better🙂
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LETS GO DODGERS, LETS GO!!!!!
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I am off to the dark side tonight, AT&T Park for the Angels ~ Giants.
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Enjoy your Tuesday everyone, I cant wait to go on the tour and see the Ravine again :-))))))

Goooooood morning ITD!
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Happy 25th Biirthday Jonathan!!!! Should I sing for you you today? Only if I can finish with a request from auditors today can I leave a little early.
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Free parking for this series!! I don’t care for interleague but I’ll be there for the series at the Ravine. I am not going to Angel Stadium.
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Back in the days Scioscia played for the Dodgers, he was a big favorite of mine. I just loved the way he blocked homeplate and his style of play. How I wish he would have stayed a Dodger.
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Enchanted: If you cannot make the ITD tour this time, I hope you do take it next time you are at the stadium. I’d love to meet you next time you are at Dodger Stadium.

Hey NELLY…I doing fine…busy at work (Thank God). I’m all excited about the tour. I just hope my husband’s ankle gets better to do all the walking. I know he will tough it out and climb all those stairs.
Hopefully we get to meet some of thet players that day…ETHIER & MARTIN and many more (HINT JOSH). The locker rooms are always exciting to tour.

Rose – the tour is going to be fantastic. A few more of my favorites would have been fun to have there, but I hope we can fix that problem for next year. I hope your husband’s ankle gets better. This is probably one of the few times I will be glad my husband is not there (jk). He would be a mild Dodger fan for the day if he could be there……………..baseball history is baseball history, and if you love baseball, all ball parks are full of baseball history no matter who you call your favorite team.

Good morning, everyone.
Interesting statistics, nelly.
The one that sticks out is Loretta, who’s really been worthless in my recent memory. I hope Joe doesn’t use him as consistently as he did Sweeney, because the results look like they will be the same.
Hudson is in a slump, and I hope he comes out of it, especially being third in the lineup.
Martin is the enigma – wonder how he was doing it in May and why he can’t pick up that same pace.
The only real constant is Furcal and Kemp – Raffy way under our expectations, and Matt just keeping a steady pace.

Good morning everyone!!! I hope you’re all having a great day, and getting ready to kick some A’s!!! I’m really excited about the tour!! My wife just got back from her trip yesterday and I informed her of the tour a week from Saturday. She seems very interested, but nowhere near as excited as I am!!🙂

NELLY – My husband is a big Dodger’s fan so he is excited about the tour. And yes we would love to tour many other baseball parks and maybe we will make it a hobby. Dodger’s will be our first
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BEAR – yeah Hudson is on a Slump, but he will snap out of it. A slump here and there is fine just as long that they don’t all slump at the same time…slump coordination is required. It is good to rest from power hitting and hopefully soon all our slumps snap out of it (maybe when Manny comes back)

Nelly,
I commented on Dodgertrend’s blog yesterday as I also found the statistics very telling. I love all the statistic he posts.
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There are so many good bloggers here at the MLBglogs. I just finished reading Elizabeth’s wonderful latest post herehttp://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/my_perspective_a_broadcasters.html I think the youngest blogger I’ve read here at the mlblogs is 9, then there is the 11 year old kid that is the latest featured blogger. His 13 year old sister also has a blog and then there Kaybee of http://kaybee.mlblogs.com/about.html who like elizabeth want to be sport journalists.

EMMA – That is too cute…kids blogging. Is there a Dodger’s kids blog. I think MLB should create a website were kids from all over LIttle League can learn about the real players and the can play games and leave their own comments of what the think about the games. Well sort of like Build-a-bear ville or that club penguin. I am not a big fan of mixing adults blogs with kids cause of the too many predators out there but MLB should have a kids friendly & safe site for them.

Rose,
Elizabeth (who is 16) latest blog was very touching. I forget where I read Mark saying the youngest was 9 or was it 8 and the oldest 80’s something. Among the youngest ones I have not found a Dodger fan yet but heck I have only visited a few of the many out here.

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